K-A

I'm thinking of rear-side Airbags (I know curtain Airbags are provided across the board).

I was under the impression that "everybody" has rear-sides. I'm pretty sure my '08 Malibu had them, the Chevy Cruze has them, etc. etc. etc. etc. I'd have to check again to make sure.

CEB

Neither the Cruze nor the Malibu have rear air bags - at least not according to Chevrolet.com website - something I'd suspect they advertise as they even highlight required safety items like driver and passenger airbags. The basic Cruze still has rear drum brakes. This is what Chevy says about the Volt that can initially be interpreted as having side airbags "plus roof-rail side-impact bags for front and rear outboard seating positions." That translates into side curtain airbags and I don't think that they are standard across the range of cars yet either.

We're spoiled in that the cars we drive generally have the latest and greatest safety gear.

Rear air bags are debated at great length and their usefulness is limited to adult passengers. They should not be used with any kind of car seat and may even hazardous to any youth. I'd just stick with the sidecurtain airbags.

K-A

Interesting. I stand corrected!

So M-B offering them as an Option is M-B just proving that it offers extra Safety (if you deem the Option safer, or necessary) more than anything I guess.

threeMBs

My take on rear side airbags in E class:

a. rear side airbags were always standard equipment on US W210 E-class from 2000 MY on,

b. rear side airbags were always standard equipment on all US W211 E-class from the first day of production,

c. with W212, MB had to cut on list of standard equipment to keep price inline with outgoing W211, especially since most other German competitors in this class (5-series/A6) were offering them as optional for years.

K-A

^^ OK, I'm spinning in circles but that's exactly what I thought, and I now remember my W211 definitely had rear-side Airbags.

Also, here's the IIHS Side Impact Test for the Chevy Cruze, which shows that it clearly has rear-side Airbags, along with the obvious Curtains.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhSaVd-x5CY

CEB

Very odd. You'd think that they would advertise that safety feature somewhat promiinently on the website.

I guess it is like browsing dealer websites and trying to determine what options a car has and you have to sift through pages of standard drivel. Yes! this car has two cigarette lighters, a driver's side airbag (mandated by the feds since the early '90's), hazard blinkers and seatbelts, just to try to figure out what package is on a car.

Is it really that hard to list the things (like rear seat airbags) that make this car different from the rest?